DCE Judging update by Douglas Caldwell

We have reached the half-way stage in the Drum Corps Europe 2011 contest season. It was quite a challenge to provide panels at all of these contests, especially due to last minute changes because of sickness and work commitments. An update by DCE Adjudication Manager Douglas Caldwell.

The weather has only been sunny at one out of five contests, so we are looking for better weather the second half of the season. The enthusiasm of the performers has not suffered, despite some terrible conditions witnessed.  Maybe the contest in Quiberon, France will provide the sun!

"I am pleased at the progress a number of corps have made with their programme designs this year" Bob Thomas, DCE Director of Education mentions. "I am also pleased to see how some designers have already made some changes and I hope this was based on the partnership with the judges. The judges are here to assist in the growth and development of all Corps."

The judges are all subject to assessment after each show, as their skills and ability will only improve with the amount of additional effort they contribute.  A number of training conference calls were held to re-emphasise particular points of judging specific to their caption. This will continue through the season.  Feedback has also been received from instructors and designers on various aspects of judging.  "These are very welcome" continues Bob. "As part of our partnership, it is important to understand how we can grow ourselves as a judging team. Just as we give feed back to the corps!"

Last year Douglas advised that progress was being made on judges commenting more on Content. There is still a lot more room for improvement in this area.  Field Judges this year have been tasked with getting closer to the action and to focus at the individual and small groupings.  We have seen a number of corps concentrating on the quality of training, this is a necessary skill for our art form. It is important to understand that training is the foundation for the skills that performers present and allows performer to be successful.

Judging is an evolving process and trainees who commenced their journey last year are only now getting the opportunity to judge.  Should any person considering the opportunity to judge, the training process generally takes about twelve months, depending on the level of skill and effort that is put into training. All enquiries should be sent to douglas@drumcorpseurope.org.